Life at a Pokemon School
by ftt500
Summary: Trainers and coordinators from Pallet Town Pokemon School go on a field trip. Forget about pokemons for once: play poker, table tennis or take a bath instead, THAT is life. Mainly Pealshipping along with many minor ones. Told in Ash's POV
1. 01 Welcome to the Pokemon School

_Hi everybody! Somehow, I wanted to write a pokemon fic so here it is. The idea is well known, but this fic will contain (I hope) some of the aspect of university life as I see it. Well, just read an hopefully you will like it . See you at the end_

**Chapter 1: Welcome to the Pokemon ****School**

My name is Ash Ketchum, I am 14 years old. Since I was a little kid, I have always wanted to become the greatest Pokemon master of all times. This is exactly why my mother, Delia, and I, moved to Pallet Town. Many incredible pokemon masters were born here. This small town is where it all began for them. In their honour, a school was build there, but it is no ordinary school. Be it battle, breeding, contests or just scientific knowledge, just could learn absolutely everything about pokemon in this one place. People would come from all over the world, including foreign country like Johto, Hoenn or Sinnoh to study here and I was one of them. The term was going to start the next day and I could hardly wait for the opening ceremony.

That morning, I woke up quite early, the reason for that was that I had almost not slept at all. I had a quick look at my bed and saw that my best friend, Pikachu, was still asleep, comfortably installed on my pillow. I decided not to wake him up, both of us still had a lot of time before leaving. I headed for the kitchen and find my mum was already there, which was a little bit strange, considering that it was not even seven.

"Hi mum" I said "You're up early today."

"Of course! Today is an important day for you. I thought I could I least prepare your breakfast and lunch"

"You could have left Mimey do that. It's just the beginning of the term you know"

"No way! This is the school you have always dreamt to go to"

"Well, I guess you're right".

This being said, she served me a hot chocolate followed shortly after by eggs, sausages and beans, typical English breakfast. I ate slowly, letting myself thinking on how my future school life would be, although I had spent most of the night on that topic already. When I finished my meal, it was already about time to get prepared. I went back to my room, woke Pikachu up and changed into my day cloths. I picked up my bag and rushed downstairs, Pikachu on my shoulder. As I was about to leave, I heard my mum.

"Ash!" I stopped and faced the kitchen door where the voice had come from.

"You forgot your lunch" She said as she handed me a small blue box.

"Thanks mum"

"Well, I guess you're going then. Have a good day". I then left the house but, as I was running on the road, I could hear her

"We're having a party for you tonight so feel free to invite some of your friends, okay?"

"Sure" I shouted and began running my way to school again.

Pallet Town School had been built a little bit away from the city itself, so that it wouldn't disturb the citizens and even if it was famous, the city had remained a pretty small town with very few transports. It was about twenty minutes walking from my home but only fifteen if you were running. I was not really in a hurry but I was just too exited to calmly walk.

* * *

When I finally arrived at the school gate, I saw a girl about my age, with short orange hair and dark eyes. I knew only one person with that look: Misty Waterflower. She was a Water-type pokemon trainer, heir of the prestigious Cerulean Gym and a childhood friend of mine. When I told her I was moving to Pallet Town, she admitted she had always wanted to study there too. After getting her sisters' approval, she moved at the same time as we did in a house her family had here.

-"What are you doing here, Misty?" I asked "Waiting for me?"

"Of course! Unlike a certain acquaintance of mine, I came to open days so I pretty much know the school already. This place is huge. You're so stupid you would get lost you I wasn't with you" That sounded exactly like Misty. Harsh language, almost like a guy's, always here to turn me down whenever she could.

"Don't call me stupid. You know I couldn't make it to open days. Besides, I came early, I was just planning to follow the crowd"

"Yeah yeah. Whatever" She was not looking at me anymore as she said that and had already began walking toward the School Coliseum where the opening ceremony was going to take place.

The Coliseum was quite impressive, big enough to contain five thousands spectators We were all standing inside the stadium, listening to Prof Oak, the school chairman and one of the world's most important pokemon scientists. He was talking about how prestigious and important the school was and that he hoped we would honour the name of the establishment, but I was only half listening to what he was saying. I thought, of course, about all these battles I had seen on TV that had taken place here but more than this, I thought about all the great fights that were yet to come. It was the dream of every student to stand on one of these two platforms made especially for participants, be it contests or battles. We then all took a sit and watch the pokemon parade. Students from all departments had done their best to make it memorable: aerials figures by a heard of Fearow, thundershock attacks taking forms of different animals, aquatic show from the stadium's pool and much more. When it finished, we went out of the stadium. At the exit, we were asked to join our section. I quickly found the staff member from the Training Department and said goodbye to Misty, as she was part of the Aquatic section.

I followed my group though the school until we reached a big grey building. Nothing was special about it, except for the eight giant balloons on the roof, forming the word Trainers. We went inside and the newcomers were guided to the department theatre. The staff members then left and the other students began wondering what was going to happen next. After a few minutes, all the chatting suddenly stopped. I turned my head to the theatre's entrance and finally understood why. Long blond hair, all dressed in black, even for her two hair ribbons, It was Cynthia, the current Sinnoh champion. What could she be doing here?

"Hi everyone! Let me introduce myself: I am Cynthia, and I will be your teacher for this year"

Cynthia? My teacher? There had been rumour that she wanted to teach to young trainers but nobody believed it since a Champ had already quite a lot of things to do. But reality was that she was right in front of me and that she said she was going to teach me. Well, not me in particular, but I would still be able to learn a lot from her, that was for sure. She went on with her speech, explaining the department's policy, how things were going to happen, what subjects we would study and then moved on to the timetable.

"As you see" she said "most of the time, you will be studying in the classroom. However, every Tuesdays starting tomorrow, you'll have practical classes. So, if you guys could follow me"

We all got out of the theatre, walking behind Cynthia as she went turned and went upstairs. She only stopped once we arrived at the roof.

"What are we doing up here, professor?" asked one of the student once we were all here.

"This place" she said answered "is our training ground. Students here are only having practicals once a week. That's non sense. A trainer and his pokemons have to work hard every day to improve. Naturally, I complained about that, but they couldn't give me the facilities: we only have them on Tuesdays as I already mentioned. So, I decided that on every other school day, I would have practical classes here, after your lessons, from six to seven. Of course, these sessions are not mandatory, but know, at least you all know they exist."

She paused, slowly turn her head to look at the scenery. A little smile made of pure joy could be seen on her face

"Besides, the view is great from here"

I had to admit she was right. Viridian forest on one side, Pallet town on the other, it was really breath-taking.

"Well, I said all this stuff about training daily and all, which really is important, but proper facilities still are the best so, I want all of you to be ready for tomorrow and for that, I will come and see all of you individually to check your pokemons. You are free to leave after this"

As I sat on the roof, waiting for my turn, I noticed everybody had at least three or four pokemons and many had already six. No doubt they had some more waiting for them somewhere. I, on the other hand, only had Pikachu. As I began to worry about that I heard somebody call me

"Hi, fellow trainer!" it was a boy around my age, wearing green vest and trousers and a blue cap.

"Is this Pikachu yours?"

"He wouldn't be staying all day long on my shoulder if it wasn't, I suppose"

"True. Stupid question I asked. Can't you just leave him in his pokeball?"

"He doesn't like it so I just let him be. By the way, why do you ask?"

"Well, that's because" He took a pokeball from his belt he threw it in the air

"Come to me, Sparky!" Another Pikachu came out. Mine suddenly jumped to the ground and the two of them began playing together.

"Looks like these two will get along" I said

"Yeah. By the way, my name is Ritchie"

"I am Ash, pleased to meet you. So you got a Pikachu and what else?"

"I also have a Charmander and a Butterfree, how about you?"

"Pikachu is my only pokemon"

"Oh! Can I have a look at him then, please?" It was Cynthia. She had suddenly appeared out of nowhere, right in the middle of our conversation.

"Sure professor"

I called Pikachu and she took it in her arms. I was actually quite surprised he didn't use a thundershock attack on her, which was what he usually did to any stranger trying to get too close to him. She took quite a long time, looking at him from every angle, whispering "I see, I see" to herself then she finally handed him to me.

"It is a very interesting pokemon you have here. I can't wait to see what he's capable of tomorrow. However, only one pokemon will probably not be enough" She handed me a couple of pokeballs.

"Use this and try to capture one or two pokemon for tomorrow. Of course, you won't know them well, but I will still think it's still better than with just Pikachu" She then moved on to check another student.

"Well, do you want to go to Viridian Forest, there are many pokemons that you could catch there" asked Ritchie

"Sounds good"

"If you don't mind, can I come with you?"

"Sure, some company would be better"

* * *

Once again, Misty was waiting for me at the school gate. I introduced her to Ritchie and told her we were going to Viridian forest. She said she didn't have anything to do anyway and decided to tag along too.

"So, how was your first day in the aquatic department, Misty?" I asked as we looking for pokemons in the forest.

"It was pretty good, although it hasn't really started yet. We just had an introductory lecture and visited the facilities. You really should see the department's aquarium. It's really huge and filled with rare water-type pokemons"

"Maybe I'll come someday, when I have time"

"Sure. I'm really glad I finally got to meet Lorelei too"

It was well known that Lorelei, member of the Kanto Elite Four and an ice type specialist, was at the head of Pallet Town School Aquatic Department. She was Misty's idol. In fact, she was one of the main reasons Misty wanted to study here.

"Good for you. Did you know, our teacher is Cynthia"

"Cynthia? The Sinnoh champion? Really?"

"Herself. All of us were quite surprised, but it's not like any of us would complain. I mean…"

"Somebody help me!"

It was a girl's voice, and it came from deeper in the forest. Before I realised it, I was already running to where it had came from. When I finally arrived, I saw a girl being attacked by a Weezing and an Arbok.

"Stop it!" I shouted at the two trainers dressed in white: one guy with short violet hair and a girl with long red one.

"Ash! What's going on here?" Misty and Ritchie had caught up with me.

"Well well, what do we have here? Three little twerps trying to save another twerp?" said the guy "Shall we take care of them first, Jessie?"

"Good idea you have for once, James"

"No! That little girl comes first. Finish quickly with her and we will deal with the others after" A Meowthhad just talked, but I paid almost no attention to it.

"Pikachu, prepare for battle. Ritchie, lend me hand, will you?"

"Of course. Go, Zippo" and his fire-type pokemon came out

"Well, looks like the brats want to start a fight, no choice then. Forget about that girl, Arbok, use bite on Charmander" ordered Jessie.

"Weezing, tackle on that Pikachu".

Both our pokemon managed to dodge it, Charmander counter attacked with amber but Arbok buried itself.

"Careful Ritchie, this could become dangerous"

"I know" That is when Arbok came out, wrapping Charmander.

"Pikachu, help Charmander, quick attack" Pikachu rushed into Arbok who lost its grip on Charmander.

"Weezing, another tackle"

"Pikachu, Iron tail" Pikachu's tail began to glow and he hit the charging Weezing, sending him right on Arbok: a nice opportunity for us.

"Pikachu, use Thunderbolt now!"

"Charmander, Flamethrower"

That is when James ordered his Weezing to use Haze. Being unable to see anything, our pokemon hadn't launched their attack. By the time the Haze effect disappeared, Jessie, James and Meowth had already left, no sign of them. Ritchie recalled his pokemon and I turn around to see if the girl was alright. Misty was already by her side trying to comfort her. She looked a little bit younger than me, maybe eleven, but I thought she was really cute: a black t-shirt with a pink skirt; a red scarf, a white hat on her shoulder-long blue hair and the most beautiful blue eyes I had ever seen.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes, I'm fine, thanks to you…" I realised immediately why she was hesitating

"Ash Ketchum" I said "and these are my friends Ritchie and Misty"

"Thank you very much. My name is Dawn"

"Well, that was nothing. But who were these guys anyway?"

"Some second year students at Pallet Town School. They noticed I was from Sinnoh and, since they have never been there, they wanted to 'have a look' at what kind of pokemons I had. 'Stealing' is probably more appropriate. When they attacked me, I was too scared I couldn't even call my pokemons"

"Maybe we should just go and complain" I proposed

"No, Ash, we have no proof or anything" said Misty. She then turned to address to Dawn "It's pretty dangerous for a girl to walk in the forest alone you know? You should be more careful"

"Actually, I wasn't alone. I came with my friend, but we got separated somehow. Oh! That's her".

A girl about the same age as Dawn was coming running to us. She was wearing a red t-shirt and black short and had a red bandana one her brown hair.

"Dawn, are you alright? I'm so sorry. I heard you scream but was too far to help you"

"I'm okay, these people helped me. Ash, Ritchie, Misty, this is my friend: May"

"Pleased to meet you and thank you all for helping Dawn earlier" She bowed. I felt a little embarrassed by that

"Hey, no need to bow like this. I mean, we are all about the same age no?"

"I guess so" she answered.

"Ash, with all of what happened you didn't catch anything" reminded me Ritchie and it was true. I had totally forgotten about it

"Cynthia is going to be mad at me but I suppose it can't be help. My mum is organising a party tonight so I have to go back and help her. Now that I think about it, she did say I could bring some friends so how about you all come to my place have dinner?"

"Sure. I wouldn't miss a meal cooked by your mum, I just love it" said Misty.

"Count me in too" was Ritchie's answer and "Sounds good" was the girls'. As we were walking back to town, I found myself a little behind, alone with Dawn.

"Are you sure it's okay if May and I come?" she was looking at her feet and sounded like she was a little disturbed "I mean, we just met and all"

"It's okay. I met Ritchie only a few hours before you. The more the merrier. And I bet my mum has probably bought tons of food anyway"

"I'll come then, see you soon" She raised her head, gave me a smile and then ran to catch up with her friend.

As we reached the town, Dawn and May left us. Ritchie wanted to have his Charmander checked at the pokemon centre. Misty and I each went to our house.

* * *

As expected, I found my mum in the kitchen and a mountain of food on the table.

"Mum, don't you think that's a little bit too much?"

"It's fine! I bet you have tons of friends coming anyway"

"Not that much. Misty is coming, as well as three other people. I just met them but they're really nice"

"I'm sure they are if you befriended them so quickly. Looks like things went well for your first day"

"Actually, I only one of them is my classmate. I met Dawn and her friend while I was in Viridian Forest, looking for pokemons" That was a huge mistake on my part, and mum took advantage of it. 'Why the hell did I have to say her name?'

"Dawn? A girl ?"

She had put on that little smile of hers that meant: tell me more about her, is she cute, how did you meet and many other implied things. She was always like this when I mentioned a girl, except for Misty and I usually would just answer by denying it. But this time, I felt something was different, I didn't want to talk about it with her now so I quickly fled to the dinning room and slowly set the table. I then went upstairs to take a rapid shower and decided to clean the living room a little bit before our guests arrive. The bell rang not long after. My mom went to open the door. It was Misty. Both of them returned to the kitchen. Misty had come so often to eat with us that she had taken the habit to help with the cooking. A few minutes later, Ritchie arrived. I gave him a little tour of the house, showing him my room, the garden etc… It finished as we reached the living room. We took a seat and began chatting.

"So, you're from Frodomar City?"

"Yes, my family still live there. I left a couple a months ago so I could walk all the way to here"

"Why would you do that?" I was a little puzzled

"I wanted to travel with my pokemons before I arrive here. Sure, we can learn a lot here, that's the reason I came, but I think experience is also a key point. The sooner you begin, the better" It hurt me because I realised that, although I had always wanted to become a great trainer, all my life, I had merely spoken about it and never taken real action.

"You are really great, Ritchie. You have journey with your pokemon, and battle couple of time already. I, on the other hand, am a complete beginner"

"Don't tell me that was the fist time you were in a pokemon battle!" Ritchie looked quite surprised by my revelation

"It was, in fact, except for the different sparing I had with Misty. Was I no good? I should have known that just training Pikachu was not enough"

"No, you did really great for your fist battle. I mean, your Pikachu sure can fight and it looks to me that you know perfectly how to use him. Just to the same tomorrow and I am sure you will be fine"

The bell rang again and since mum was busy in the kitchen, I had to go myself. When I opened the door, I found myself face to face with Dawn. She had abandoned her hat and was wearing a large doll-like pink robe. I was so surprised I think I just stood there, staring at her. After a few seconds, we both looked away.

"Dawn! I told you there was no need for all of this" May said. She was hidden behind her friend. She went on "I'm sorry we are a little bit late. But this girl here absolutely wanted to get changed before coming so we had to go to her house."

"No no, it's alright. Dinner isn't ready yet" I then turn to face Dawn once again "Besides, it was worth going, I think. This dress really suits you. I'm glad I could see you all dressed up like this"

"Thanks" Maybe it was just my imagination, but I think she blushed.

"Well" interrupted May "she loves to dress up for all kind of occasions so you'll probably see more of her outfit soon"

She passed through me to enter the house with a little smile. It kind of reminded me the one my mother had had about an hour ago. I showed the house again to the girls. By the time we finished, mum called us for dinner. Since it was supposed to be a party for my first day, my friends insisted that I had the president's chair with Misty and Ritchie on my left, the two younger girls on my right. Mum arrived with a huge pot of soup and to my surprise, she went straight to Dawn.

"You must be Dawn, right?" she said with a gentle voice as she served her. I probably was the only one who noticed there was something else to it.

"Yes, I am. Thank you for having us tonight Mrs Ketchum" she made a little bow with her head

"Delia is fine. Don't you wonder how I knew your name?" I now knew what she was planning to do but at this point I just wished really hard that she would stop there; which, of course, had no chance of happening.

"I suppose Misty told you while you were cooking" Mum put on her devilish smile. 'Welcome to hell Ash' I told myself

"No, absolutely not! Ash told me he met a cute girl in the forest. I thought it had to be you. You're absolutely his kind of girl" I could tell Dawn was embarrassed, but not possibly as much as I was, especially when what she had said was true. I had to make it stop somehow.

"I never said she was cute" I argued, but I knew it was a lost cause against my mum.

"But you think so, no?" She had just finished serving Dawn and May and was moving toward the other side now. "You know what?" she addressed to my blue-haired friend "that boy never speaks about girls, with three exceptions: great female pokemon trainers, his fights with Misty and girls he's interested in" I wanted to hide under the table by now, but I had my dignity to keep.

"Really?" Dawn's ton had changed, but I couldn't really tell what it was.

"Well well, I'm finished here. I'll let the young have fun together" Had mum noticed the change in Dawn's voice. It was just not like her to give up on these kinds of things. Anyway, I was glad it had ended.

The rest of the dinner went peacefully, except maybe for the 'who can eat the most' competition there was between me and May. I had never imagined such a slim girl could eat that much. We spoke more about basic stuffs. Misty and Dawn mostly spoke fashion. Needless to say I knew nothing about it, so I chatted more with Ritchie and May. He seemed very interested in Hoenn and kept questioning her on all kind of things: landscape, food, people and, of course; pokemons. I assumed he would soon want to go there, maybe next break. It seemed like a good idea. When dinner finished, while everybody moved to the living room to chat some more, I went to the porch. I had always loved to stay there, just staring at the sky. It felt even better after a good meal. I was beginning to daydream when a Dawn's voice brought me back to reality.

"Your house is really nice" She sat next to me "especially this porch"

"Yeah, I just love it" None of us spoke; we were just taken away by the feeling of the place, looking at the sky. After a few minutes, she broke the silence.

"You know, I've been thinking about a way to thank you" she stood up and was now facing me

"No need for that. You needed help, I only did what I had to. Plus, you came here tonight"

"Well, it's normal. We're friends now, aren't we?"

"I guess so". Friend, I thought, was I so glad I met her because I had new friends? I couldn't really answer

"Anyway, you mentioned you were looking for pokemons back in the forest no?"

"Yes, but why are you asking?" She smiled and came closer to me

"Your hand" I presented it to her, she took it. I sensed a little ball as our hand parted. I looked at it

"Dawn, is this?"

"Yes, it is a pokemon. Come on, open it" I threw it into the air and a green lizard pokemon came out from it.

"Treecko?" I asked, a little puzzled.

"Yes, the Hoenn grass type starter. I'm so sorry I couldn't find a pokemon myself. I asked May since her family is very close to Prof Birch. We explained the whole situation to him and he agreed to let you have this pokemon"

"Thank you very much, Dawn"

"I couldn't have done it without May though" She looked really sorry about that.

"You're still the one that gave him to me"

"Got an idea!" She had suddenly cheered up "How about I perform Dawn's special show for you?"

"Special show?" I asked, a little puzzled

"Oh right! I forgot to mention: May and I are part of the Contest Department. We're amateur pokemon coordinators, so, how about I show you some moves?"

"Sounds really good" I smiled. She took three pokeballs out of her belt and threw them. A Piplup, a Buneary and a Pashirisu came out. Pashirisu aimed a thunderbolt attack at the sky and it suddenly exploded into a dome of light, Piplup performed a water gun attack and then crystallised it, turning it into an ice rain and Buneary was on the side, dancing. This is how my first day at Pallet Town School ended as I watched Dawn playing with her pokemons.

* * *

_End of chapter one! Hope you liked it! If you did, please review. First time posting my text here, somehow it looks a little bit weird, don't you think? Should I change the presentation?_

_ Practical classes for the next chapter so, get ready for some pokemon action! Although I don't really now when it will be ready. Soon, I hope._


	2. 02 Practical classes

_ Here is chapter 2, with a lot of pokemon action and a whole lot of new characters coming, including everyone's favorite Breeder_. _I forgot to mention this in chapter 1 introduction, but I, of course, do NOT own pokemon. So now, please enjoy _**  
**

**Chapter 2**

**Practical classes**

The sound of a Pigeot gently pulled me out of my sleep. I slowly stretched and checked my pillow: Pikachu was still sleeping. I tiptoed to my room's door, trying not to disturb Ritchie. Since it was about four in the morning when all of us stopped chatting, everybody decided to sleep here. I could smell food from the staircase and headed for the kitchen.

"Nice clothes you have" May said as I entered the kitchen. I realized I was still wearing my pajama. Of course, she was still wearing her day clothes, except for the apron, sign that she was the one who had been cooking.

"Give me a break, it my house after all. Moreover, it's still quite early. I don't think the others will wake up before at least twenty minutes" I sat at the table and began helped myself some coffee.

"Well, I don't really mind, but I don't know what Dawn would say if she saw you like this" I nearly dropped my cup.

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing" She whistled and focused back on the cooking. This is when I noticed something odd

"How about you? Why are you up so early?" I asked

"Just a habit. I thought I could prepare breakfast since I had time. I hope you don't mind me using your kitchen"

"Not at all" She had filled a plate full of pancakes and gave it to me.

"Thank you"

"I've already had my part so, go ahead and eat" There was no need to tell me these kind of things twice so, I poured some syrup and began digging in. As I was almost finished, a few minutes later, the door opened again: a sleepy Dawn appeared with half-closed eyes and hair that made you think a battle had taken place. May gasped, so did I. Dawn had a look around the room and her gaze stopped on me. I felt ashamed, but there was no way out. Then, she looked at the mirror placed near the fridge and stormed out the room without forgetting to slam the door.

"This is gonna be a long day..."

* * *

Everybody showed up not long after and I went up to change and wake up Pikachu. By the time I came back, Dawn had fixed her hair and we were all ready to go. Once we arrived at the school gate, everybody started to head to their own department. I had only made a few meters when Dawn called me back.

"I almost forgot, but you two are in the Training department right?" she asked

"Sure, why?"

"Actually, there's this guys I know in your class, his name is Paul. He is a little bit dangerous so, try to stay away from him"

I promised her we would then Ritchie and I made our way to the Department gym where the practicals were taking place. As soon as we arrived, Cynthia showed up and the whole class entered the building.

* * *

"Unfortunately, you can't fully use aquatic pokemons here" She said, and it was true that there was no pool that would have allowed us to use them "but, it has been build so that it should handle any attack and it is big enough for a flying type pokemon to move freely so, there shouldn't be any problems. Now, I want you all to use the fist fifteen minutes to warm up then you'll all spare in front of the whole class with a partner that I will choose" Everybody began to split through out the gym. I and Ritchie went in a far corner so that we wouldn't be bothered. I was still checking Treecko's move when Cynthia called us again after fifteen minutes. "Okay, first ones to go: Asunta and Clark. Will you please come in these circles. This is a two on two pokemon battle."

Two blue haired students stood up: a girl dressed in red and a guy wearing glasses and a white vest. The guy took a conductor's staff out of his pocket and both of them took place. The girl: Asunta chose a Venomoth and Clark a Quilava. It began rather gently with trainer wanting to know what the other one was capable of, and it turned up both of them were quite good: timing, strategies, reactions. All attacks were executed at a high speed and seemed really powerful but in the end, Venomoth was trapped in the flames and Quilava finished it with a Fire Wheel. Asunta's next choice of pokemon still puzzle me even now: normally when one pokemon is defeated, you can use this as an opportunity to get a type advantage, but she chose an Ivysaur instead. Quilava being exausted, she finished it with one Take Down attack. Clark's second pokemon turned out to be another Fire-type, maybe it was is specialty after all, and it was a very powerful one: Charizard, the dragon-like fire starter in Kanto. I thought that signed Asunta's lost for sure. After that much civility in the first round, the second round became violent. Charizard launched hostilities with Flamethrower, Asunta used Light Screen to weakened it, followed immediately with a Synthesis to recover. Charizard then used smokescreen and was able to get close to Ivysaur thanks to it. It caught Ivysaur and began to fly, describing circle: Seismic Toss. I watched Asunta to see what kind of expression she could have in such a bad situation. To my surprise, she had a little smile. Had she foreseen that? She ordered Ivysaur to use Sleep Powder, which stopped Charizard immediately and the two of them felt. However, Ivysaur stopped in mid air and its bulb began to glow. As soon as Charizard hit the ground, a powerful Solar Beam attack connected. That was the end of it.

"Looks like people in this class are no joke" said Ritchie

"True. Of course, that Asunta girl was awesome, but Clark was pretty impressive too" At least, I couldn't have done anything against any of them I thought. And so, the classes went one, with most matches being at a pretty high level. There was that strange boy, Morrison, dressed like a Samourai who was kind of stubborn using always the same Take Down move with his Beldum, but it was quite powerful and ended up working. Another notable trainer was Katie, a girl from Hoenn with long blue hair, a little bit like Dawn if you ask me. She kept sweeping between her Golduck and her Venomoth during the battle and none of them was knocked out. Then, finally, came Ritchie's turn.

* * *

"Okay, now students Ritchie and Jeanette, will you please come?" announced Cynthia. My friend stood up and took place. His opponent was a green-eyed girl with long black hair. She was wearing a traditional pale red kimono, which in itself was strange, but it was a style that suited her well. I thought grass type pokemon would fit her, and I was right as she summoned a Scyther. My friend sent Happy, his Butterfree, looks like he wanted a fair match between bug-type pokemons. It began with a Stun Spore attack from Happy. Jeanette ordered her pokemon to use Sword Dance: an excellent move from her part as it boosted Scyther as well as countering Ritchie's attack. Having a disadvantage in close combat, he tried a Gust attack but Scyther dodged easily. My friend must have predicted it, because a Psybeam followed immediately after and sent Scyther to the ground. Using this opportunity, he used another Gust attack, hoping to finish this round as Scyther got caught in it. However, in a flash, the storm had ended and Happy was within blade reach of Jeanette's pokemon. She finished it with a magnificent Wing Attack.

"To those who are wondering what happened: Scyther used a Razor Wind attack from inside the Gust, neutralizing it. It then took advantage from the attack's speed to get near Butterfree. I have to admit it was a brilliant move from her part and a great way to cover for one of Scyther's weakness" said Cynthia. Fortunately, I was not the only one who was puzzled by the move Jeanette had just did. I was glad she had provided explanations. The match went on, as Ritchie called Zippo, his Charmander. Maybe it was from Cynthia's compliment, but Jeanette seemed to have lost her focus. She challenged Charmander into a range fight where her Air Slash was easily outmatched by Zippo's Flamethrower and then choose a Bellsprout as her second pokemon. What kind of idea was that when the fire-type pokemon had not even been hurt from the previous round? Like when Asunta called her Ivysaur, I had judged a little bit too quickly. It turned out that her Bellsprout really high-leveled: in fact, far greater than Zippo's. She had probably decided not to have it evolved in order to trick her opponent and it worked quite well. Ritchie started with Flamethrower, looking for an easy victory, but Bellsprout used a barrier of roots. Of course, it burned, but it gave the pokemon enough time to escape. It then used Wrap, but Charmander just burned the vine coming to him. Seeing that long range attack would not work, Ritchie ordered his pokemon to get closer to Bellsprout, which was not too difficult, even with the multitude of Razor leaf throw at him. However, faking wanting a long range fight turned out to be part of the kimono-dressed girl's plan, her goal being close combat to begin with. Bellsprout's strange movements allowed him to dodge any attack thrown against him, much like a boxer and he could use his vine as whip. The final move was a Slam from the grass-type pokemon. My friend recalled his pokemon, defeated, and slowly walked back toward me.

"Don't look so down Ritchie, it was a good fight" I tried to cheer him up

"Where do you see a good fight when I couldn't even touch her Bellsprout?" From his tone, it was obvious he was angry. Not really because he lost, but more likely at himself for not performing better.

"It was" Jeanette interrupted with her quiet voice

"I couldn't do anything against your Bellsprout' He replied

"That is because it was a long planned strategy. Now that you've seen it, I would probably lose. You wouldn't underestimate my dearest anymore" she gave her hand and after a few moment of hesitation, Ritchie took it and they handshake "Your spirit is good. I will be looking forward to fight with you again" She then broke the hand shake and walk back to her place.

* * *

"With Janette's win, we will move on to the next fight. Paul and Gary, it is your turn" announced Cynthia. Paul looked a little bit younger than me, he had purple hair and was wearing a black and dark blue vest with grey trousers.

"You know Ash?" asked my friend "when Dawn told us about that Paul guy earlier, I was quite sure I have heard his name before but couldn't remember where. Now it is all back, it was an article in the newspaper about future possible pokemon master. He was one of them: Paul, the prodigy trainer from Sinnoh"

"Prodigy? For real?"

"Yes, but it was also said that he had pretty bad character, just like Dawn said." I nodded "That's not all" my friend went on "his opponent, the one in purple and the strange hair style, was also mentioned. His full name is Gary Oak, son of the school chairman. But he didn't make it here thanks to that. He's said to be a genius. And you can bet that with Prof.Oak as his father, he has spent most of his life with pokemons" I was a little bit surprised that such people were in this class.

"Is there anyone else famous here?" I began looking though out the gym and realized everyone had already spared except for me "Hey, I'm the only one left! How can I battle?"

"Don't worry, Cynthia will sort things out. For now, just focus: Prodigy vs Genius. It will probably be an insane battle"

"You two have quite a reputation so, I will change the rules for you" decided Cynthia "I know both of you have enough power to damage the building and I don't want that so you will be limited to only one pokemon"

"So, you're the famous Prodigy from Sinnoh" said Gary

"I have heard of you too, Gary. It's a good thing you are my opponents. I was afraid I would have to fight one of these weaklings" answered Paul "This is a one to one battle so show me all you've got"

"You bet" Gary took one of his pokeball and a Blastoise came out. Paul's pokemon was also a turtle-like pokemon, but it was a Torterra. You could tell by just one look that these were exceptional pokemons.

"Looks pretty even" said Paul "My type advantage isn't that important. But since I'm in a good mood, I'll let you the first move"

"So kind of you" that being said, he ordered his pokemon to use Hydro Pump: such a violent attack is normally not seen for an opening. Two powerful jet of water came out from Blastoise's cannons. Paul tried nothing to escape from it and just took the full blow, However, his pokemon didn't move by an inch by doing so.

"Can't do any better?" teased Paul "if this is all you can do, you won't even scratch us" Gary put on a smile, she same as Asunta when Charizard was performing Seismic Toss.

"It's no fun if I knock you out in one move, isn't it?"

"I guess it's true, but I won't be that kind. Torterra, use Earthquake!" As the whole gym was shaking, Blastoise went back into his shell, began spinning at high speed and went straight at Torterra. Once again, Torterra took the blow, but it seemed affective this time as it was sent a few meters backward. It was then Paul's turn to attack as he ordered Leaf Storm attack but Blastoise deflected every single leaf with water jets, proof of the accuracy of his technique. Paul, still being on the offensive, used Giga Drain. Gary answered with Withdraw to minimize to damage and, while Blastoise was inside the shell, performed a Skull Bash. However, it connected to Torterra's solid shell. From this point, Gary had the advantage, Blastoise being way better than Torterra for close range technique, using combos of Aqua Tail, Bite and simple puches to do damages. Finally, Torterra managed to put a Leech seed on Blastoise. Being disturbed, the water type Pokemon stooped its series of attack and used Rapid Turn to get rid of it. Paul took this opportunity to put some distance between them.

"Time to finish it Torterra: Hyber Beam!" Hyper beam, one of the most difficult and most powerful techniques a pokemon could possibly learn. How could a thirteen years old trainer have had his pokemon master it? If Blastoise was hit, it would be doomed for sure.

"Blastoise, Hydro Pump, full power" The water type pokemon planted its claws in the ground and two gigantic jet of water came out from its cannons, just like a cataract. It was nothing like the opening move. The two attacks met and it became a matter of raw power. The advantage went to Torterra and the Hyper Beam sent Blastoise flying to the wall. Was that just how powerful Blastoise was or something else but the result was that it was still standing up.

"Great job Blastoise, now use Aqua ring to recover a little" However, Blastoise never answered. It was unconscious, the match was finished.

"Torterra, use Frenzy Plant" Paul's voice echoed thought the Gym.

"Paul! Stop it!" I shouted, but it was too late as huge plants began to grow in direction of the wounded pokemon.

"Pikachu, Quick attack to reach Blastoise then Protect" My pokemon made it just in time as all plants stopped, blocked by Protect

"Don't interfere with this!" yelled Paul

"No! You stop! You won already and you are still trying to hurt Blastoise! If it's an opponent you're looking for then, I'm your man!" At this point I totally forgot the advice Dawn had just given me this morning: I was just full of anger against a trainer who was mistreating pokemons, but I was suddenly stopped by Gary, another pokeball ready in his hand.

"That guy is mine"

"Calm down people" Once against, Cynthia had appeared out of nowhere and began clapping "that was an impressive fight: high level technique, advance strategies, timing, combos, everything was there! Even the loser can be proud of such a battle. However…" She put on a serious face and looked at Paul "if you try anything like that again, I will stop you myself"

* * *

The bell rang, announcing the end of today's lessons. Paul just turned away from the Sinnoh Champ and exited the Gym. The others packed their things and followed him until there was only me, Ritchie and Gary, who was checking Blastoise's condition. Fortunately, it didn't seem bad, thanks to me blocking Frenzy plant so Gary simply called him back, saying some rest was all his pokemon needed. I was collecting my stuff when Cynthia interrupted me

"You can't leave now, Ash" I looked at her with a puzzled face "You haven't spare yet!"

"Well, classes are finished and besides, who can I spare with?" She smiled as I asked

"You've got me! I'll be your partner for today"

She had to be kidding: battling the Sinnoh champ for my first official battle? Anyway, she was my teacher after all. It was not like I could refuse; so I just took Treecko's pokeball and called the grass-type pokemon. It took out a twig out of nowhere and put it inside his mouth.

"That's the idea, Ash, but don't expect me to go easy on you" said the Champ. Her gaze had changed and it really scared me. It was like you could feel a dark aura around her. She slowly took a pokeball and, in what seemed an unreal movement, threw it into the air.

"Come to me, Garchomp!" Garchomp: the shark-like dragon-type pokemon. It was Cynthia's most famous and most powerful pokemon. I had seen it knock out entire pokemon teams of trainers much better than me and now, I had to face it. What kind of joke was that? What could I possibly do against it?

"Well, if you don't mind, I'll make the fist move. Garchomp, use Dragon rush" Garchomp's ear began to glow and the entire pokemon was soon covered by a blue aura and came rushing at Treecko. I already knew that if Treecko was hit, he was dead and I wouldn't be able to dodge it. I called him back before the attack had the chance to connect and tried to order Pikachu to go, but I was paralyzed, I was afraid. Pikachu understood it and moved forward by himself.

"Use Brick break" As Garchomp was charging with its blade glowing, I still couldn't move. Pikachu got hit, the battle had ended… or so I thought. As I looked up again, I saw was still standing, apparently, he had used Haste to dodge it without being ordered to. However, it still wasn't fast enough and the end of the blade had scratched him. That is when I realized that Pikachu was willing to fight, even against such an opponent. What was I doing running away? I couldn't do that when my friend was trying so hard.

"I'm really sorry about that Pikachu and thank you. Now, let's focus on this battle. We have to do our best" Pikachu began gathering electricity inside his body and Cynthia ordered a Giga Impact. Her pokemon turned into a huge torch coming at us. "Pikachu, give it all you've got!" Pikachu's next electric attack was the most amazing I had ever seen: a real rain of thunder fall, all aimed at Garchomp. There was a big explosion and, when the smoke was out, I saw Garchomp, standing next to Pikachu who was unconscious on the ground. Cynthia quickly called back her pokemon and we both rushed to Pikachu's side.

"I don't think there are any serious injuries, but you would better take him to the university Pokemon Center quickly" She said. I took him in my arms and began running when she called me again.

"Oh, Ash, next time, take it easy please. I'll have trouble explaining that to Prof.Oak" She pointed the ceiling and I finally noticed Pikachu had made a huge hole in it.

* * *

As Ritchie and I arrived at the pokemon center, we saw that Joy, this center's nurse as well as many others, it was a huge family. We stopped as somebody had just walk on us, obviously on a hurry.

"Joy! Sweetheart! I missed you so much!" It was a guy, probably in his early twenties slightly dark skinned, eyes that seemed closed and spiky brown hair. He was wearing a black and orange vest with a green t-shirt and grey trousers.

'Great, her boyfriend' I thought

"Of course, you don't know me" It was worst than her boyfriend: a skirt-chaser "My name is Brock, 19, humble pokemon breeder and at the service of all women in this planet. I met your cousin back in Pewter City, my hometown. She was like a white angel, but it is nothing compare to your beauty, I…"

"Could you stop it already!" Looks like Ritchie had lost his patience "We have an emergency here!" Joy and Brock finally noticed Pikachu in my arms. Joy took it and quickly disappeared with Chancey to the operation room.

"Excuse me, but what do you feed your Pikachu with?" asked Brock

"Well, since he doesn't like pokemon food, I usually just eat the same stuff as me. Why?"

"He looks healthy. I was just curious"

"Healthy? How could you say that? He has just been hurt pretty badly"

"Not at all!" I gave him a questioning look "He looks pretty bad but the truth is that he is just utterly exhausted. A good night of rest and he will be all fine" Ritchie and I exchanged a glance, still confused about what he had just said because that meant that he had stopped Garchomp's assault and just fainted from the attack he used. Joy reappeared with Pikachu, and confirmed what Brock had just told us.

"I was really worried because it looked serious, but it wasn't: I just took care of minor wounds. All he needs is to rest" She said. Brock was about to flirt again but Ritchie and I quickly got him out of here. There was something I wanted to talk about with that breeder

"You mentioned food earlier, that do you think I should do?" Brock looked at Pikachu from every angle, took a few seconds to think and began digging in his bag. He finally took a small bottle filled with small brown balls and handed it to me.

"This is some homemade food by me. It should be perfect for your Pikachu" I opened the bottle and gave a ball to Pikachu. He took it, ate and seemed to really like it.

"Thank you, Brock. My name is Ash"

"You're welcome, my friend. I'm glad to see somebody appreciate my food. If you need any more, just tell me. I've got tons back at home"

"No problem" I waved a goodbye and we all left the school.

* * *

I only quickly went home to let Pikachu rest and left for the hill from where you could see the whole village. My mind had been preoccupied with my friend's state all this time, but now that he was alright, the fight came back to my mind and it got me a little depressed.

"So you really were there" I was surprised to see Dawn climbing up the hill to join me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked

"Delia called me saying you probably were depressed and that you would most likely be here so, she asked me to come"

"Really, what kind of mum is she?" Dawn seemed to misunderstand that sentence.

"Could it be that I shouldn't have?"

"No, it's alright!" She sat then next to me, looking at me with her big blue eyes

"So, what happened?" she asked with a gentle tone. I thought that to her, maybe I could tell

"Maybe I am not fit to be a Pokemon master after all" I finally said

"Eh? Why are you saying this?"

"I had to battle Cynthia today" I paused, thinking once again about what had happened "and I was scared, so afraid I couldn't even move. Pikachu was the one that reminded me I had to fight in the end. But really what kind of trainer is this: a trainer afraid to battle?" As I looked up, I realized Dawn's face was really closed to mine. She put her hands on both my cheeks

"Okay, Ash Ketchum! Forget about it already" She sounded a little bit upset "It's not like you at all! You battled with courage yesterday and I was really thrilled by it. Cynthia is probably the most powerful trainer in the world, it is normal to be scared. If you ever think about quitting, I am not talking to you anymore" She then calmed down, got her hands out of my face and said with a sweet voice "It will be alright. Don't worry. You can do it, that much I am sure" Oddly enough her word really did comfort me. I patted her hair and said

"I promise I won't give up and I won't be afraid anymore. Just you watch me" Then, both of us just stood there, silent, watching the sun disappearing on our small village.

* * *

_So, how did you like it? there was less romance than last time because I had to write a lot of battles this time, I hope it didn't disturb you. In case you were wondering, most of new characters are participants in the league Ash participated in. The idea of Jeanette x Ritchie never crossed my mind before I actually wrote that. I think it could be cool, what are your opinions?  
I've got couple of ideas for next chapter, but it's not very clear yet so, it make take a while. It's probably gonna be about our heroes doing a little bit of theater. See you guys soon! _


	3. 03 On the other side

I'm back for the third chapter of 'Life at a Pokemon School' and, as I announced, our dear heroes get involved with the Drama Club. I had trouble writting it because it took me a while to find a play these guys could play. In the end, I ended up making it up myself. I hope it doesn't look too bad. Enjoy

Chapter 3 : On the other side

A few weeks had passed since the first practical classes. Days were peaceful. The typical day consisted on attending lectures, having lunch with Misty (who would always come, no matter what) by the school lake Gary also joined from time to time. Since that memorable battle, we had become quite good friend but there was always something odd about him. Whereas I could totally relax with Ritchie, I always had in my mind that Gary was an excellent trainer and a rival. I wanted to have a great match with him but he was just so far way. However, I kept training everyday, both attending Cynthia's special sessions and in my free time.

That day, Brock, Dawn and May were also with us, which happened sometimes and that always made me happy for some reasons. We were eating quietly when we heard a very loud shout.

"Found it!" It was a girl probably younger that us, blue/green hair put in two pigtails and blue eyes. She came at us rushing and took May's hand. My coordinator friend gave her a puzzling look. The young girl quickly dig into her handbag, took what seemed to be a handout and threw it into the table. It read: On The Other Side, a play by the Pallet Town School Drama Club.

"I would like you to play in it as the lead female role." She opened her big eyes and chooses to put on a terribly cute face "Pretty please!"

"But I don't know anything about drama!" the Hoeen girl said

"I'll teach you the basic and you'll be able to perform well, I promise. The important thing is that you fit the character image perfectly. Of course, all of your friend here are welcome too" May turned to us.

"So guys, what do you think?" she asked us

"I'm in if you are. It could be fun" said Ritchie. Dawn took the script and, I could see her eyes light up as she went through it.

"Come one, everybody, let's do it!" Dawn's enthusiasm got the better out of Brock, Misty. I wasn't particularly interested, but since all of my friends wanted to have a try, I thought I might as well join them. Gary however declined the offer, saying he wanted to focus on Pokemon training. The girl, Duplica, told us all to meet her at the School Theatre after lessons and left, overjoyed.

* * *

The day went by, as usual, and the lessons soon ended. Ritchie and I headed for the Theatre, which was located right in the middle of the School. I have to admit it was its size was impressive, but otherwise it was a normal Greek style amphitheatre. As we arrived, we saw that our friends were already there.

"Good! Now everybody is here" said Duplica. Something was definitely wrong, but I wasn't the one who made the remark, Brock was.

"Doesn't the drama club have more members? I was hoping the club would have some hot chicks that I could…" He was interrupted as Misty hit him hard on the back of his head

"Excuse-them, Duplica, but there's nothing we can do about his skirt-chasing habit" the brunette coordinator paused to look at the scene between these two "But he does have a point. You wanted me to play the lead role in your play, but how can we set it up with that little people?"

"I may be the only member, but we should be enough" The youngest girl smiled and took one pokeball. A formless purple pokemon came out of it. "Ditto, show them" Her pokemon suddenly transformed into a perfect copy May. It was nearly impossible to tell the difference.

"Hello, my name is May, pleased to meet you" waving at us

"We already know that!" I said, then I realise it actually was Ditto, not May. Could it also copy a person's voice?

"I'm good rather good, aren't I?" We all turned to Duplica, astonished: a ventriloquist. Dawn jumped to her and gave her a big hug.

"Duplica, you're a genius! With that, we'll definitely be able to do it!"

"Stop it, I can't breath! Besides, it's not that great" Dawn let her go but who was she trying to fool exactly? Playing and doing synch ventriloquism at the same time: how could such a young girl have that much talent? Some people could try their whole life and not that have such a perfect result. She returned into a serious mode

"Even with that trick, I still need more people. I'm definitely giving the lead female role to May. I'll play the lead male since I've got a little bit more experience than you and Ditto is taking care of all secondary roles, such as villagers, guards etc… but I still need a male and a female actor, which is why I called you here. I was thinking of a little audition now" We agreed and she handed each a us a copy of the script

"The very first scene is a monologue. It should be perfect for me to evaluate your skill so please read through it and prepare. I'll give you twenty minutes. May, I think you should also do it"

The story so far seemed to be about a nice and quiet city surrounded by huge walls. For some reason, the citizens were not allowed to exit it, but nobody seemed to care, except May's character. In the first scene, she was in front of the wall gate, thinking about her situation. The twenty minutes went by quickly and I was the first one to go on stage. Unfortunately, acting was never, and will never be may I add, my forte. Although I thought it was poetic but depressing at the same time, I couldn't manage to get it quite right. As I finished, I knew it would take a miracle for me to be cast. Next one on the list was Dawn it was not too bad, but if you ask me, I would say she overdid it a little bit. Brock's turn arrived and it was quite a surprise. He managed to turn the whole scene into a sort of comedy but the impressive part is that it didn't look awkward, proof of his talent. Misty also turned out to be pretty good, which I found strange. In the whole fourteen years I had known her, I never suspected that. I assumed that it came from her Waterflower blood, if you consider that her sisters hold a show almost everyday in the Cerulean Gym. After Brock's performance, Ritchie said the breeder should have the role and didn't even try. I think I saw a trace of disappointment on his face but my attention quickly returned to the stage as May's turn arrived.

"Am I a dreamer?" She began, sounding lost in thoughts, kicking a stone as she walked along an imaginary road "Other people don't care, they are fine the way things are" She looked up, her blues eyes shining like sapphire. "But as for me, I need to know. Since I arrived, all grown up and without any memories, just like anyone here, I can't stop thinking about it: what's behind it?" She paused, sat on a bench stared at the back of the stage. I could almost see the gate she was looking at "Once, I took a glimpse of the outside: green fields as far as I could see, mountains, forests and even a small village with its old fashioned bell-tower. It looked so pretty! I can't wait to go there! I'll have a nice walk and then I'll stop by the village, sit at a coffee shop and enjoy the sun shining on my face" She approached her knees and stared now at the ceiling "But I know full well this will never happen. Nobody ever exited the city walls; I don't even think somebody ever thought about it" May looked up at the ceiling "But, just once, I want to be able to spread my wings and go on the other side"

With that, it was confirmed that May was indeed the perfect choice for this role. Without any surprises, Duplica choose Brock and Misty for the cast.

"Can I ask a favour from you?" Dawn asked after the youngest girl had spoken

"Yeah, sure"

"Can I still participate for the play? Truth is, more than acting; I'm more interested in making the costumes. I already got a bunch of idea from when I read the script and I'm sure it will be perfect" the Sinnoh coordinator said in an enthusiast tone.

"Actually, I was about to ask that" Dawn seemed really pleased by the comment "Oh and you, Ash and Ritchie, I want you to take a part in it too"

"Really?" My fellow trainer seemed surprised

"Of course! I thought you two could take care of making the decorations and lights and Dawn will help when she's done with the costume. Plus, it would be nice if one of you could help us with the script, just in case we've got a memory lapse"

"I'll do it" Ritchie really seemed thrilled by the idea. As for me, I thought I would have a nice time doing this project with the others, so I agreed. Duplica handed each of us a script and we then made our way home.

* * *

Late that night, as Pikachu had long been put to bed, I found some time to read the script entirely. I finally understood why Dawn had accepted so easily. I'm not really into romance (people always told me I was kind of dense in that matter) but this story really moved me. Tsubasa, May's role, when she though to be the only one dreaming of the other side met Daisuke, a boy who shared her dream. Together, they will try to build a flying machine to escape from their strange prison. Their relation builds up, as the same time as their machine. Then the day comes to finally use it and its result… The same poetic, light tone but at the same time dramatic and sad from the fist scene was kept trough the entire story. I didn't know who wrote it, but it definitely had the potential to move an entire audience and I was really glad I was part of it. However, reading it, one question came to my mind: what is love? And with this though, I slowly drifted into the world of dreams.

* * *

After lessons, the day after, we had another gathering for the Drama Club. Actors started practicing on stage. Ritchie and I went to the small workshop to see what we could use there. It looks like he though about it a lot as he came with a lot of idea and sounded really exited about it. We were still making an inventory of what would be useful to us when Dawn came in. She suddenly hugged me in front of my friend. It surprised me so much I couldn't move. She pushed her head against my chest and said softly

"Ash, I…" What the hell was that? It couldn't be a… confession? Not like I really minded Dawn but it was way too sudden. As my mind was racing through my little fantasies, she finished her sentence. "Need your measurements for your costume" I feel on the ground hard as she said that, I think Ritchie did as well as I heard a loud crashing sound. Duplica had said that I needed a costume just in case I had to substitute somebody, but I had forgotten Dawn was in charge for it.

"What were you thinking of doing it this way?" I asked, as I finally noticed the meter on her hand. Obviously, she had taken the datas she wanted during the hug. She giggled.

"Just joking! Besides, would you have answered me if I came to you and ask what your measurements are?" She had a point, I would never have told her, of all the people in the world but I just couldn't let her go that easily.

"I enjoyed it… the hug" I teased her, looking at her straight into her beautiful blue eyes. Now it was her turn to be confused. Even if it was only briefly, I saw her blush.

"Pervert" she shouted then stormed out. I finally got up and we resumed our work on the inventory when Ritchie broke the silence.

"Do you fancy her?" he asked in a calm voice. I never though Ritchie would be the one starting this kind of discussion. He was a little bit like me in that matter. I stopped a few seconds. Dawn was a friend, very good friend and even if I really did think she was cute, nice, funny, in one word, perfect, I couldn't possibly be in love, could I?

"Why would you think that?" I finally managed to say.

"The hug… you said you enjoyed it" Why did he have to stay so cool in that situation! To him it was as if we were talking about Pokemon battles.

"It was just pay back for the joke" I knew I sounded like I was in the defensive, which was the case, but their was no other way "Anyway, she's just a friend"

"I see" He answered vaguely. It seemed to me he wasn't convinced at all but that didn't matter. That made me wonder if he had a girl he was interested in but I didn't asked and just turned back to the work.

* * *

It happened a few days later as I was wandering in the School, waiting for the roof session to take place. I suddenly heard Ritchie's voice coming from a classroom. For some reason, he had always disappeared quickly after lessons were done for the past two or three days. I opened the door enough just to see who was inside. It was indeed my friend, standing on the class' platform.

"We can do it, Tsubasa!" Tsubasa? Was he repeating for the play? But he wasn't cast! He took an imaginary scroll and unfolded it in the teacher's desk.

"I found that in an old book in the library, it's a plan for a flying machine!" He sounded excited, like any boy talking about their dream "If we can build that, we'll be able to go on the other side of the walls! You'll be able to visit that small village, have the walk around the mountains like you have always wanted to! And me, I can finally visit the world, go on an adventure" He looked at the 'scroll', pointing various point in it "I wouldn't want you to think that I'm boasting, but I'm pretty good with mechanic and with these instructions, I can definitely build it. So, all we need is to gather the different pieces, will you help me, Tsubasa?" I step in, I had seen enough.

"Of course I will" Ritchie was so surprised he dropped his script and just stared at me. After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, he finally got his sense back.

"Ash! What are you doing here?" He asked

"Just killing some time before going to the roof. But that's not the point here, is it?"

"I guess so" He looked suddenly very interested in his foot

"Why are you doing this?" I simply added

"Well…it's hard to explain…I've always liked Drama" He admitted "I though I could try for once. But then, Brock was so good I knew I had no chance. Even so, I really liked the script and so I practiced" he definitely wasn't saying all of it, but that was enough for me.

"Why didn't you just tell Duplica? I'm sure she would have found something" I said, trying to cheer him up.

"It's not that easy. I'm just …not good enough"

"Come on, Ritchie! I just saw you and it was great, at least the same level as Misty or Brock. If you really want to play, this is your chance!"

My watch rang, alerting me it was about time I headed for Cynthia's special session.

"Sorry, I have to go to the roof now, but he can talk bout it later okay?" I exited the room, leaving a confused Ritchie behind.

* * *

The days went by after this conversation. Going to the Drama club every day was hard, but turned out to be pretty interesting. We managed to have everything finished for the day of the representation, but Ritchie and I never had the opportunity to bring up what had happened in that classroom. It was about two hours before the show was planned when Dawn arrived in the command round where my fellow trainer and I were making the final check

"Have you guys seen Duplica?" she asked

"No, but now that I think about it, she should have been here long ago" I answer

"Do you think something happened to her?" she sounded really worried

"We better check. The show won't happen without her and Ditto" Ritchie stood up and began running. The coordinator and I just followed.

We wandered through the school for a good twenty minutes when we finally found her, tied up in an isolate corner of the lake. Beside her stood three all familiar faces.

"You again?" I exclaimed

"Well well, isn't this the twerps from last time" said James

"So after me last time, it's her turn. Were you trying to steal her pokemon?" said Dawn in fury

"That's correct. Her ditto is quite skilled, I'm sure our boss would like to have it" Meothw confirmed. Were they just stupid telling us their objective? It was their problem after all, not mine. And who could their boss be?

"Like we would let that happen" Ritchie grabbed a pokeball and his electric-type pokemon came out.

"Guess there's no helping it" James called his Weezing and but Jessie called a Seviper this time. I personally wasn't really bothered since they were both poisonous snake pokemons but I was sure that, even if he was pretty good, Ritchie would have trouble dealing with these two alone. I was about to summon Treecko when Dawn stopped me.

"Leave it to me. I still owe them one for what happened in the forest" Her usual gentle, sweet gaze had changed. It was pretty similar to the one trainers had in the heat of a battle. What could I do when she was that determined? I just stepped back and she summoned her Buneary.

"Seviper use Poison Tail on Buneary" ordered Jessie. I was surprised as Buneary use a dance step to dodge it. Seviper tried again and without any success.

"Weezing, help Seviper with Sludge" The pokemon started firing rubbish to the rabbit pokemon who just continued to dodge.

"You're ready Ritchie?" asked Dawn

"Yes. Sparky is all charged now, thanks" I had a look at his Pikachu and small sparkle of electricity were coming out of his cheek. Buneary had the two poisonous pokemon focused on her so that Sparky could charged, sounded like a good plan. "Thundershock on Weezing" James' pokemon noticed the attack too late and it hit him clean.

"Almost forgot there was an other one here" said James "I'll get him, Jessie, you take care of that stupid rabbit" Weezing used haze to hide himself and hit the blinded Pikachu.

"Bite now" shouted Jessie

"Jump then use Ice Beam" Buneary did as ordered, used Seviper's head to jump high in the sky and performed a Ice Beam. Obviously, Dawn was not a traditional trainer, her dodging technique and attacks all came from a coordinator's arsenal. The ice beam was more like a sparkling wind than anything else and it blow away the Haze. Weezing had a moment of inattention as he was suddenly visible and Ritchie took this opportunity to use a Tackle that send the poison type pokemon next to its companion.

"Buneary, use Sweet Kiss" Two small hearts touched the poisonous pokemons who became confused. Ritchie ordered a Thunder attack. Unfortunately, Weezing recovered in time to use Self Destruct. Once again, they had escaped from us. My friends quickly recalled their pokemons. We all rushed to Duplica's side and untied her.

"Duplica, are you all right?" asked a worried Dawn

"Yes, I'm alright and Ditto too. We better get back quickly or we'll be late for the show" She stood up, or rather tried too as she fell on the ground, holding her ankle.

"I think I strained it" she said, in pain

"We better get you to the infirmary soon" proposed Ritchie

"No! The show will begin soon!" She protested

"You can't do it in this condition!" exclaimed the trainer

"I can't play, bit I can still lip sync for Ditto" she shouted back. I thought, maybe that was the opportunity I had been looking for. I put my hand in Ritchie's shoulder

"Ritchie, you have to play Daisuke's part"

"Me? But you are the substitute! And I don't have any costume and all" He tried

"We're about the same size, my costume will do perfectly. I know how much you wanted to do this so, just accept" Ritchie looked at Dawn, who nodded then at Duplica

"You better hurry, Daisuke, or you'll miss your entrance. These two will help me so don't worry. We'll make it in time" said the Drama club member. Ritchie hesitated, turned away from us and ran in the direction of the School theatre. Once he disappeared from our sight, I turned my attention back to the girls only to see Duplica standing on her two foot, looking perfectly healthy. Still, I don't think I was half as surprised as Dawn was.

"What the…" she managed to say

"Just faking it" Duplica smiled "Didn't think we would buy it that easily though"

"That was some great acting. You're not in the Drama Club for nothing" I praised her "So you knew?"

"Of course. He can't fool me with that face. I hadn't planned these guys to attack me, but I thought I could use it to get him on stage. He wouldn't have accepted it otherwise"

"True but, won't you regret it?"

"Not at all. But be better get going too" She began running toward the theatre herself, followed closely by Dawn and me.

* * *

Once we arrived, the youngest girl went to the backstage immediately to prepare Ditto, Dawn and me headed for the command room. Apparently, Brock had tried to entertain the crowd by performing some strange Mexican dance put I'm not sure it was a good thing. Well at least it was funny. I shut down the light, lift the curtain up: Let the show begin.

May appeared, looking astonishing with her green summer dress and her make up.

"You really did a great job" I told my friend "She's beautiful" She giggled

"Are you falling for her?"

"Of course not!" I quickly denied. "It's your work I'm admiring"

"Thanks then" She smiled at me.

We watched the rest of the play, peacefully (except that I had to push buttons about every twenty seconds but it was kind of automatic with all the training I had been through) until Ritchie was on stage. He looked perfect in the costume Dawn had made me. He was exactly what I had imagined Daisuke was, the gentle street boy from last century.

"He's doing pretty well" Dawn interrupted my thoughts

"I saw him practicing once and he was good but I have to admit he's even better now"

"Guess he kept working" She paused "But why did he want to do it that much?"

"He told me he really liked drama. Sure it is a good reason, but I think there's something else"

"And what would it be?" She asked

"I thought you would have an idea" I admitted

"Not at all"

We stayed silent until we arrived at that scene where, the machine finally being finished, Daisuke is eager to test it and try during a storm. He got hit by a thunder (performed by Sparky) and, on the verge of death he finally opens his heart to a crying Tsubasa. That scene was the most brilliant part of the play that day. If you ask me, I think May's tear were real as her heart was touched by Ritchie's pure and sincere confession. Then it hit me as well as Dawn. We looked at each other in the eyes without saying a word but our gaze clearly meant 'It can't be...' That reminded me of what I first thought when I read that script. Maybe she could help me.

"Hey, Dawn…" I began "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure, what is it?" She was giving me her full attention

"What is love?" I finally managed to ask. She looked surprised, took a few seconds to think.

"There's no answer to that. Love varies from one to another I think. But one thing I'm sure of: when you're falling for somebody, at least deep inside, you know it. If you have to convince yourself that you love that person, then it's not love anymore" She bent over so that her face was now only a few inches from mine. I felt like as I was being drawn by her magnificent blue eyes "So tell me, Ash Ketchum, are you in love?" I finally managed to get away from her gaze, staring at the stage once again.

"Maybe I do" I slowly added.

In the end, the performance was a huge success and we all came home feeling we had achieved something. The one who benefited from it the most was probably Duplica with her talent was finally recognized. She however quit Drama to focus on imitations with Ditto and I heard she's even better doing that. I just can't wait to see it.

* * *

Chapter 3 is finished! I know it's not of much use, but I enjoyed the idea of the pokemon cast doing a play and it's not like university life is only made of studies and mysteries. The play I made up is inpired by Haibame Renmei for thos of you who know. I think my play was very bad but I didn't have any other ideas, sorry. If by any miracle, it seemed interesting to you, just tell me and I may write it for real.

I'm still hesitating about next chapter. I really want to do a Xmas special but then the story wouldn't make any progression, would you guys be okay with that? Worst case, a (kind of) real plot will begin in the chapter 4. See you soon!


	4. Xmas Special

_ My apologies, I know I'm VERY late for this, but I didn't think I wouldbe unable to write anything during the winter break (blame in on my brother). It's still a Xmas special cause it has a special atmosphere to it (at least, I think so) and I was too lazy changing it _._ Please enjoy!_

**Xmas special: Ball and complications**

It was around mid December. Pallet Town was filled with Christmas spirit and everywhere you could see light, decorations or children playing in the snow. That particular morning, one of these sunny yet freezing winter day, I noticed a huge crowd had formed in front of the notice board at the school gate. I quickly found my friends Ritchie, Dawn and May and asked them what was going on. Since none of them had a clue, we fought our way until we finally saw what had caught all this interest. It was a poster representing a couple dancing and you could read: Pallet Town Pokemon School is glad to present its first ever Christmas Ball. This will take place on December 24 in the Conference Room starting 21:00.

A Christmas party by the school? Sounded like a good idea to me. It was typically the kind of news that students were thrilled by and it had worked quite well. I looked around me and saw that the two coordinators were already giggling at the thought of the dress they would wear. I then turned my attention to Ritchie, who appeared deep in thought.

"Something bothering you?" I asked him

"Just this" He pointed a part of the poster that I had missed.

"Any student is allowed to attend if condition is fulfilled" I read

"What do you think this means?"

"I have no idea" A quick look at my watch reminded me we better hurry if we didn't want to be late. We waved goodbye to the girls and headed to the Training Department.

* * *

The day went by, as usual until the end of the last lecture on general battle strategies when Cynthia made a surprising announcement.

"Girls can leave, but I want all boys to stay behind. I've got some extra informations for you" Asunta, Jeannette, Katie along many others left the classroom. After she made sure no girls were listening, Cynthia began.

"I assume you all of you guys already know about the Christmas Ball, don't you?" This was a surprise. I, as well as all my fellow classmates, had expected her to talk some more about the lecture. I had to get use to the idea that Cynthia was no ordinary teacher. We nodded and she went on.

"Anything odd you noticed?" She asked. Since Ritchie had been bothered by this that very morning, he decided to answer

"What is that condition we have to fulfil to attend?"

"Nice Ritchie, that was the question I was expecting. And the condition is…" she paused "you need these tickets" She took out a pile of tickets, half red half gold.

"And what do we have to do to get them? A tournament? Defeat you? Or simply buy them?" asked one of the students. Cynthia burst into laughs

"No such thing! I'm going to give them to you and no later than right now" with that she distributed one to each of us. Once I got mine, I noticed a dotted line separating the two halves.

"Why do we have two tickets?" I said

"You're wrong Ash, this is one ticket, but for two persons. Only the red part is yours" We all gave her a puzzled look. "The gold one is reserved for girl" I turned my ticket around and saw the inscriptions 'Boy' and 'Girl' on each side. Cynthia went on "All boys and no girls in the school have been given one of these tickets. All you have to do is to find a date for the ball and give her the gold part. You are allowed to attend only if both parts are put together again at the Ball entrance." She gave us a big, cheerful smile "So good luck to all of you!"

As I exited the door, I though this could not be good news. While Cynthia was telling us all of this, there was only one girl I could think of: Dawn. But there was no way I could ask her. If she was to turn me down, things would get awkward. Misty would probably work but something felt wrong in me asking her. Ritchie however interrupted my thoughts

"Sounds interesting, doesn't it?"

"I guess so" I knew I sounded down but I couldn't hide it

"What's the matter Ash?"

"Nothing" I paused "It's just I probably won't go"

"Come on! The first ball ever in the School history! You bet this is the only thing people will talk about these next few weeks. You have to come!"

"Sounds easy for you" Ritchie took a few seconds to think

"You mean the whole date thing?" He finally asked "No need to worry about it. I bet there are plenty of single girls who will want to attend" that surprised me. Ritchie was never the playboy type, and I never thought he would pick any girl just to attend

"Don't tell me there isn't one that you would rather go with" Ritchie suddenly stopped

"There is…"

"May?" I asked innocently. He seemed shocked and that was the last clue I needed

"I guess it's no use hiding it, isn't it?" I nodded "Well then, let's do our best, both of us" He gave me a high five and with that, the day ended.

* * *

As Ritchie had predicted, the ball quickly became the school's hottest topic. In fact, starting the next morning it was the only thing you could hear of in the campus. The girls were excited as they were wondering who would ask them out and the boys were thinking hard on how to use this ticket best.

The morning lessons were hell. Nobody was listening, too busy making plans for the ball. The only exceptions to this were Paul (which didn't really surprise me) and Gary. Then came the fateful lunch break time.

The cold of the winter prevented us from eating by the lake, like we used to. Instead, we met with Brock and the two coordinators in one of the many cafeterias in the campus. Once all of us had bought our 'food' (if you consider it deserve this name) we found an empty table and settled. Gary suddenly showed up.

"I need your help" We had barely the time to ask anything when a huge crowd of girls arrived, rushing at him. You could hear all of them saying that they would be the perfect match for the chairman's son

"Okay girls, stop it. I've made up my mind" The crowd went silence "My date for the ball is…' He pointed toward Misty "…her". A few seconds of silence, a little drop of water at the end of their eyes and a moment after, all of them left, crying. Still, the problem wasn't really there so all of us slowly turned toward the water pokemon trainer. She stood up, grabbed Gary and rushed out the cafeteria.

"That's definitely a yes" said May. Ritchie and I looked had her with our eyes wide opened

"How do you know?" I asked.

"Let me explain" interrupted Brock, jumping in front of me "Gary is the most popular first year and I think Misty is sensible to that. Moreover, by doing it in front of everyone, you can bet the rumour had already spread over the whole campus so, she's got no choice but to accept" now it was the girls' turn to stare at the breeder

"That's exactly it, but how would you know that" asked Dawn

"I'm not nicknamed Doctor Love for nothing" he proudly answered

"So, who are you going to ask out, Doctor Love?" continued Dawn in a sarcastic tone that he didn't notice

"Nurse Joy of course! She's the one for me. But there's also the school guard, Jenny and…" He was brutally interrupted by the brunette coordinator

"Yeah yeah, we know, all cute girls are your true love" she turned to face Ritchie and I "and what about you?" There was only one girl I could possibly bring to this ball and it was Dawn. I was about to say something when Ritchie exclaimed

"I don't know yet, and you?" I mentally thanked him. May got up, looked around the cafeteria and pointed a table in the far corner.

"See the guy with green hair over there? His name is Drew. He's the best coordinator in the class and my greatest rival. For some reasons, he asked me and I agreed" Poor Ritchie, didn't even have the chance to fight and already defeated. I was about to try cheer him up when something unexpected happened. A ticket fell on the table, right in front of Dawn.

"What's this about, Paul?" she asked angrily

"I'm annoyed by that thing and you're the only descent girl here. This is what it means" he answered as calm as ever. The youngest girl stood up

"So you think that by just playing cool I'll go with you?"

"I'm giving you this ticket, you're free to do whatever you want with it" he was already leaving

"Fine then, I accept" She yelled at him. And with that, along with Ritchie's, my world collapsed

* * *

I didn't say a word for the rest of the lunch and Ritchie and I escaped from the group as soon as we got out.

"So, what are you going to do about this?" asked my friend

"I don't know" I confessed "but shouldn't you be concerned about yourself first?"

"I just couldn't now because I was shocked but I still plan to try and I think you should too" Once again, I found myself admiring Ritchie. The first thing I had thought about when I heard Dawn agree was giving up but I guess it was too soon. We were interrupted by a girl about our age with short purple hair caring a notepad. She was wearing blue trousers and a white vest, an Espeon on her shoulder (pretty much like my Pikachu).

"Excuse me" she began "my name is Anabel, from the Psychic Department. If you have a few minutes, could you answer this survey for my study?" I had no real reason to refuse so I nodded, to which she answer with a smile.

"First question then: what's your name and which department are you from?"

"I'm Ash Ketchum, from the Training Department" She wrote it down on her notepad

"Do you have a favourite type of pokemon?"

"Not in particular, I like them all"

"How would you qualify your relation with your pokemon?" I pointed at the electric mouse on my shoulder

"That guy is my best friend. I also have a Treecko and we also get along well"

"So you think the most important thing between a pokemon and its trainer is the friendship they share"

"That's my point of view"

"If I may ask, did you have good results?"

"We haven't entered any real competitions yet so I can't tell. But I'm sure we'll do great"

"Okay then, last question: will you go to the Ball with me?" What the hell was that? The worst part in all of this was that she had kept the same expression as if it was the next logical question to her survey. I stared at her, puzzled

"You don't have a date yet right?"

"True but…"

"There's somebody else on your mind but she's all set" I opened my eyes a little wider, she smiled again

"Trust me or not, but I'm a psychic. I can sometimes have a feeling of what is in somebody else's mind" My friend and I were speechless "Anyway, I'm sure we could get along well so, what do you say?" With a girl asking me like that, I had no choice, so I took my ticket and gave her the gold part. She then left us to continue her survey.

"So you're giving up on Dawn?" I noticed a little bit of disappointment in his voice but decided to ignore it

"I admit, I really wanted to ask her but she's already going with Paul so, I don't see anything wrong with accepting Anabel, moreover, she looks like a nice girl"

"Yes but…"

"I'm alright, don't worry" the both of us then went silence and we walked toward the department

* * *

At five o'clock, after a lecture on "Use of the common psychic type moves", all students went home. Cynthia had cancelled her special sessions since it was too cold outside. The two coordinators, Misty and Brock were waiting for us at the school gate. Since it was pitch dark outside at this hour, it had become a habit to walk home together. We had just joined them when somebody call me. I turned around to see the purple-haired psychic.

"So you're going too. How bout we do it together? After all, we agreed to go to the ball but we hardly know each other" I didn't have the time to answer that I heard something dropping on the ground: Dawn's bag. I looked at her, she turned away and began running. What's going on? By the time I had come back to my senses, a few seconds later, Brock and Misty were already out of my sight, chasing after her. I stood up and followed. I remember running and running in the snow, not really knowing where to go. Eventually I ran out of breath and stopped.

"She's the one, isn't she?" it was Anabel

"You should already know right?"

"I want you to say it"

"Very well then. Her name is Dawn and she is the girl I wanted to go to the Ball with but…"

"But?" She was looking at me right in the eyes with a serious look

"I already promised I would go with you and I'm not the kind to break promises" Her expression softened and, in contrast with the weather, gave me a warm smile

"That's a good thing because I'm not ready to let you go"

* * *

From that day on, May hang out with us but Dawn avoided me. At least I thought so. Dawn had became a no good topic so no one dared speak about it. In her place, Anabel came more and more often. However, the next really memorable event happened on Tuesday during the practical classes (the roof Pikachu had destroyed had long been repaired). Before Cynthia could begin anything, Ritchie stood up.

"Teacher, allow me to have a battle with Jeanette, please"

"Want your revenge before the year end?" It was true that, ever since that defeat during the first lesson, they had fought many times and he never won. "I have no objection but it all depends on her". Jeanette stood up

"I'm ready"

"We don't have much time so, just a one on one battle" announced Cynthia

"Don't hold back; Jeanette"

"Of course not" with that, she summoned her Bellsprout and me friend Sparky. Logical choice since it was the only pokemon he had high levelled enough to counter the grass-type.

"No time to waste, Sparky use Thunder!" That wasn't like him at all, throwing big moves at the start of the match. As expected, Bellsprout dodged it easily and countered attack with Razor Leaf. Ritchie ordered a Reflect to avoid it. He then rushed in with a Quick attack followed by an Iron Tail to send his opponent in the air. I thought for n moment that maybe, this offensive style was his real way of fighting and that, until now, he had just fought according to the rules and etiquette we learnt.

"Do you really think that sending it flying would stop Bellsprout's attacks? Use Sol…"

"Will you accompany me to the Ball?"

"What?"

"Sparky, use Thunder again" Even being a grass-type pokemon, taking Sparky's Thunder full blow was a knocked out

"Ritchie! That was low! You can't joke around like that just to make me lose my focus!" yelled Jeanette

"I was not joking"

"Controlling your opponent's mind is also part of a pokemon battle, Jeanette so…" Cynthia grinned "what's your answer?" A n odd silence, a shy nod from her blushing face, followed by a torrent of applause.

Although these two became the centre of attention for the rest of the day, I still managed to catch him on the way home.

"May…It didn't work in the end" he said. Could he also be a psychic? How could he know I was about to ask that?

"When did you ask her?"

"The same day you found your date. After all of you guys left, I walked her home"

"And you didn't tell me?"

"I thought you were already too busy with your own problems" He was right but, I sure would have liked to have known before

"So, why her?"

"Well, just like you with Anabel I guess. She's quite a decent girl after all. Well mannered, from a good family and rather nice. And after all, it's just a Ball, not our wedding" That was certainly true, but I sure was disappointed. I had wanted May and him to go together. I wondered if he felt the same when I picked up the purple-haired girl

"And, why put all this show for her?"

"I just thought it would be funnier this way. As well as giving me an opportunity to finally beat her"

"That sure worked"

* * *

The situation remained unchanged until the last day of the term, the day before the Ball. A very troubling rumour had spread around the campus: a possibility for the Ball to be cancelled, although there was no apparent reason. The bell rang for the last time and I was heading home when the speakers began singing, sign for an announcement: 'Students Ash, Ritchie from Cynthia's class, students May and Dawn from Soledad"s and finally Anabel from Sabrina's are asked to come to the Chairman's office immediately. I repeat, students Ash, Ritchie, Dawn, May and Anabel, please come to the chairman's office" Ritchie and I headed there, still puzzled by the strange announcement.

Everybody was already there when we arrived. Pr.Oak wasted no time beginning the explanations of the meeting

"You are here on Gary's demand to help the School"

"How exactly?" asked Ritchie

"You all heard about the rumours on tomorrow's Ball, right?" We all nodded "I'm afraid they are true"

"What happened?" from May's tone, you could tell she was scared at the idea of the Ball being cancelled

"A great part of the food disappeared last night. Hopefully, we managed to cover the damage, but if this was to happen again, I would have to choice but to call the Ball off"

"So you want us to guard it" I said

"Exactly. Gary is in charged of the operation so I'll let him explain" Oak's grandson took a map and unfolded it on the desk. It was the kitchen plan.

"They are two rooms to guard: the Kitchen and the food reserve so, we will form two groups. The first is Ritchie, May and I. The three of us should have enough power to take care of whatever may come from the front door. The other three, Ash, Dawn and Anabel are in charge for the reserve. With Anabel's power, they will be able to sense if something is outside, waiting for a opportunity to come from the backdoor or if the Kitchen group needs help" if Gary planned his pokemon battles as well as this operation, it was no wonder he was called a Genius. We approved of his plan (although it felt wrong to team with both Dawn and Anabel at the same time but I couldn't argue) and agreed to take our position at six o'clock, when the cooks were finished

* * *

Eyes half-closed and my mind in a daze, I looked at my watch: 3:00 am. My two partners were just the same as me After waiting that long in the dark, I can't blame them. Was there really something menacing this Ball? All we wanted was to sleep at least, that was until Anabel patted my shoulder ans whispered to me

"Ash, they are people who are trying to get through the backdoor. I think they'll manage to open it in a few minutes"

"Very well then, to our positions" I told them in a quiet tone

As predicted, a few minutes later, the intruders broke in, carefully advancing step by step, trying to be as discrete as possible.

"Jessie, you would have told me you knew how to levitate"

"What are you talking about, James?" Jessies? James? It couldn't be them? I switched the light on, revealing the face of the trio. They tried to run away but that was useless. Anabel appeared

"It's no use. You are under Espeon's psychic attack"

"I knew this was a bad plan" complained James

"Shut up! If it had worked we would be eating like kings right now" retorqued Meowth

"You moved from pokemon to food stealing now? How low!" said Dawn

"Hold one a minute, twerp, we haven't stolen anything yet! You're hurting our pride there" answered Jessie

"They are not lying. I can tell" confirmed the Psychic

"Then who" I was interrupted as we heard a loud noise coming from the kitchen. We all rushed there

"Combusken, use Sky Uppercut" May's fire type pokemon did as ordered but its opponent, a kind of big cat, turned away, dodging it. It was obviously looking for something

"Are you sure you don't want any help? It's getting ridiculous" said Gary

"That Munchlax just ate all my snacks and it's still hungry! I won't forgive him! Double Kick" Again, the pokemon turned away. May was so furious you could almost see smoke coming out from her head.

"That's enough! Fight properly. Try a Mega Kick" Munchlax fall to the ground dodging the coordinator's attack for at least the third consecutive time.

"Hey! It's asleep" commented Ritchie

"Getting on my nerve till the end, aren't you" With that, she threw a pokeball at it. 1, 2…3 the capture was a success.

"So, he was the one responsible?" I asked

"I guess so" answered Gary.

"Great! Time to hit the sack now" yawned Dawn. As she passed in front of one of the kitchen cupboard, it suddenly opened, revealing a enormous Snorlax. One thing I knew about Snorlax was that they were always either sleeping or eating and, when they were hungry, they would blow up anything between them and their food, exactly like Dawn at that precise moment. I rushed toward my friend, caught her and dove in the ground to get out the way. I stood up immediately and checked on Dawn: she was unconscious. How dare him?

"That's the real culprit" said May

"I was careless. I should have noticed that a Munchlax alone couldn't possibly eat that much" A way for Gary to apologise for a member being hurt?

"It's my fault. I didn't sense it since it was sleeping" Anabel apologised

All of the others had their pokemon ready, I stopped them

"Leave it to me, I'm going to make it pay for what it did to Dawn" I called my Treecko and asked Pikachu also to get ready. This was no opponent either of them could handle alone.

"Pikachu, use thunderbolt! Treecko Magical leaf!" As expected, it did nothing to the massive pokemon, but it caught it attention, which is what I wanted. Snorlax rushed on Pikachu with a Body Slam. My pokemon countered with another Thunderbolt. Snorlax then tried a serie of different punch, I ordered Pikachu to use haste to that he could easily dodge it.

"Treecko, Bullet Seed" Annoyed by the attack, the normal-type pokemon connected a huge punch to my pokemon. It was send flying to the wall. Snorlax tried to follow up. I took it as an opportunity. I ordered a Mud Sport attack from my grass type pokemon: the rushing Snorlax tripped on it. Treecko immobilised it with a Leech Seed? The final blow was Pikachu's thunder. I ended it by throwing a pokeball at it, which worked. With the battle finished, my attention returned to my unconscious friend

"How is she?" I asked

"Fine, don't worry. She just need to rest" I sighed of relief. Thanks god she was alright

"Nice work, Ash But what are we gonna do about this?" Gary pointed the surrounding. Maybe using Thunder inside wasn't such a great idea. It was a whole mess.

"I'm responsible so, I'll clean, don't worry" I said

"Fine" without another word, Gary left

"You should bring Dawn home" I told May. She nodded and Ritchie went to help her.

"I'll help you" proposed Anabel.

* * *

I was glad she stayed because, even with her help, it took us an hour to clean everything. Once we were finally finished, I decided to walk her. No way I could let her go back alone at this hour. We hardly talked on the way there, too tired from the night we had been through, but once in front of her door, something unexpected happened.

"I'll see you next term then, bye bye. And thanks for walking me home" she said

"Sure, no problem" I was already leaving when I realised what she had said "What do you mean by next term? Aren't we seeing each other tomorrow?"

"That's only if you ask me out, but right now, we have nothing planned"

"The Ball…" I began but was interrupted as she put her finger on my month

"That was foolish of me to force you. I realised it when you saved her tonight, you can't forget about Dawn" I think I saw tears beginning to form in her eyes but what could I do? Once again she had seen right through me

"I'm really sorry. We get along well and I think you're a really cool girl, funny and kinda cute with that. If it wasn't for Dawn, I'm sure we could have…" Once again, she interrupted me

"That's just the way things are. But, even with that, can we still be friends?" She presented me her hand. I shake it. After we broke the handshake, I walked away without turning back. I didn't want her to see me crying. Anabel had been the fist girl to give me that much attention and I deeply thanked her for that. It really pained me I couldn't answer her in the same way.

* * *

With winter break starting the next day, I decided to slack off. There's nothing better than this in the first day of a vacation. I helped my mum with food shopping and even the cooking. I went to the garden to play with my pokemons: they are allowed free time too. And so, the day went quietly until, at 22H00 the doorbell rang. Since mum was in her room watching a film, I decided I had to take care of it. As soon as I opened it, I was face to face with Dawn. Not the normal Dawn: this one was wearing a white dress and a little make up that made her all the more beautiful. However, her hair was a little bit messy and she seemed to be out of breath. Had she been running?

"I'm sorry if I disturbed you" she began

"Not at all. Come in, you'll catch a cold like that" She did as I said and we went to the living room. I let her warm up near the fire and came back with a cup of hot chocolate

"Thanks Ash"

"You're welcome" I paused "So… what are you doing here?"

"The real question is: why didn't you come to the Ball?"

"Anabel turned me down yesterday"

"I thought so…"

"You knew?" I asked, a little surprised

"I figured it out after you didn't come"

"She did it because she thought it would be best if I go with you" I confessed. It was now her turned to be surprised

"Why didn't you ask me then?"

"You had already agreed to go with Paul" She sighed

"In the cafeteria at that time, he gave me the two tickets. I had planned to me ask you out if you didn't" she explained "but then you invited Anabel, so I decided to drag Paul there, which is a miracle if you consider how much he hate these things" How could things had turned out this way, when we both had the same idea, letting small things get in our way. "Anyway, maybe it's not too late" She went to the stereo, a ballad began to play.

"May told me… Consider it as my thank you gift for yesterday. So, Ash, will you dance with me?" I stood up, wrap my arms around her and she put hers around my neck. After a while, she put her head on my shoulder. Thanks god she couldn't see how red I was in this position. And so, that white Christmas night, I spent it in my living room with Dawn, twirling again and again.

* * *

_Thanks for reading that late Xmas special. Oh, I didn't really reread my story so, if there's any obvious mistake, please tell me.  
A Lot of fluffy stuff wasn't there? some odd ones too (I think Treecko's fighting style is a bit off for example). That fic is Pearlshipping and will stay as such, but it's no fun if they don't have rivals, right?  
That makes me think, I would be curious to see which are you favorite couples? please tell me. I personally like the Ritchie/Jeanette/May thing (especially with Jeanette) and now Drew is coming Oo. I'll probably use him as an active character soon. See you guys soon. _


	5. 04 Field trip I

_Chapter four is up, my apologies for being so late but, as I never plan anything before actually writting, I'm rather slow. Once again, I finished this chapter yesterday night so I didn't have time to check the spelling and such. If you see an obvious mistake, please telle me. See you at the end_

Chapter 4: Field trip, part one

It was in the beginning of February, the Training Department had decided to organise a two day field trip along with the coordinators for the first year. The destination chosen was Petalburg city in Hoenn, May's hometown. It was going to be an intensive week-end of practice for all of us but, even of we knew that, we were still all looking forward to it. Especially May, of course, but Ritchie as well. Not really surprising if you consider how much he questioned the brunette when they first met.

Anyway, that is the reason why, on that cloudy, cold winter day, a hundred of students found themselves on the ship heading to Littleroot town. Ritchie and I were quietly playing with our pokemons when Dawn and May came, accompanied by three other persons.

"Morning guys!" started May "you two doing well?" we nodded

"We were passing by and saw you so, we thought you could meet our friends" explained Dawn. "These two here" she pointed to a girl with orange hair put in a strange fashion and a rather normal looking boy "are the only other Sinnoh native in our class" A girl with strange orange hair step forward, presenting her hand for a handshake, which we accepted.

"I am Zoey" She began "Thanks for taking care of our Dawn. I know how difficult that can be" That being said. She dodged the blue-haired coordinator charging straight at her and they began to run across the room.

"Please excuse them. They get along quite well in fact, but they like teasing each other. My name is Kenny" He was a rather normal looking guy, strange haircut too but classic brown hair and eyes color.

"And I think I already talked to you about Drew, my rival. That's him" said May. He exchanged greetings. They seemed to get along well for someone she described as a rival but that didn't matter, not to me at least.

"Since we're plenty, how about we play some cards?" proposed Ritchie. With nothing better to do, they agreed. Using peanuts, we started a poker game The first bet round had been made and Kengo was about to deal the flop when somebody shouted

"Ace Pair! Kamo-chan, you're doing great!" I finally raised my head from my cards and saw a tall purple-haired guy wearing a Cacturne outfit

"Harley!" shouted the brunette "what are you doing here?"

"I wanna play too…" answered the coordinator in his girly voice

"Not a chance!" she replied angrily

"Why not?" asked Ritchie "Eight is a good number"

"He's a cheater!"

"Kamo-chan! There's nothing in line in this game so, what do you have to lose?" Much to May's dismay, Harley was included. Unfortunately, I have never been good either with luck or bluff so I got kicked out fist. Then came Harley who, since there was no price besides peanuts played fairly but badly. Dawn followed, brilliantly trapped by Drew. Finally, Kengo and Zoey lost to Ritchie's full house. The game had happened in such a way that Ritchie and Dre had the exact same number of peanuts.

"It's getting boring" exclaimed the green-haired boy

"You're giving up?" asked his opponent

"Of course not, but let's make it more interesting"

"What's your idea?" Drew pointed to May

"Winner gets a kiss from her"

"Hey! I've got my part to say in this, don't you think?" complained the Brunette. Drew turned his chair to face her

"You don't agree?" her face turned red

"Fine! Whatever!" she shouted. Drew turned his attention back to the trainer

"So?" Ritchie lift up his gaze to look straight at Drew.

"You're on" not even a trace of hesitation in his voice. The cards were deal 'This is bad' I though. I glanced at Dawn, who must have known the situation, but she just nodded. Then arrived the last turn of bet, with Drew going all-in. Ritchie had a decent hand, but the flop was offering a lot of possibilities.

"I …" He was about to finish his sentence when Cynthia popped up with another woman. They quickly grabbed the peanuts and gulped them down

"Teacher" all of us shouted. Wait, that means that this young woman who looked like she was in her early twenties was the coordinator's teacher?

"What kind of teacher would I be if I left fourteen years old play poker?" grinned the Sinnoh champion. That's definitely not the kind of attitude you expect from somebody of her rank

"Kids these days really are not like they used to. That's a pity" complained the red haired woman. And with that, they walked away complaining about what they called the 'decadent generation'

"Who was that woman?" finally asked Ritchie

"Soledad, our teacher" explained Kenny

"Unfortunately" added all her students, except Drew

"Come on guys, you know she's a great coordinator" he defended

"We do! But it really doesn't seem so" said May

"And who are they to complain about the next generation? I can't even imagine what these two went through when they were our age" Thanks to Zoey's suggestion, all of us took ten seconds to imagine and we all bust into laughter.

* * *

The boat arrived soon after in Little root town. Buses were waiting for us there to go to Petalburg city. It was only a short ride to there so, twenty minutes, we arrived at the hotel the school had prepared. It was around five in the afternoon. Soledad and Cynthia instructed us to leave our luggage at the reception and to meet in the training ground behind the hotel as soon as possible. About fifteen minutes later, everyone has finally arrived

"Welcome to Pallet Town Pokemon School field trip" began Cynthia "As you already know, this is an intense training camp for all of you to get some practice" She paused and grinned. With time, all of us in the department knew this could not mean good news "However, just usual training would be boring so, me and my colleague, Soledad, thought about something fun. I'll leave it to her to explain"

"Gym battles are nothing but a barbarian act, Contest are just fancy girly stuffs" continued the head coordinator "This is probably what you guys think. What Cynthia and I wanted to do was to break this kind of idea and use this trip as an opportunity for trainers and coordinators to know each other better. So we decided that all of you would still get training during this trip but in the category you are not use to. Meaning if you are a coordinator, you will train for gym battle and vice-versa." Whispered arose in the crowd but that couldn't be helped. I wondered how these girls could be teachers in our school. Coming with so many strange ideas, I bet they normally would have gotten fired in no time. Maybe it was because of their prestigious rank.

"To fulfil this purpose, we want each trainer to pair with a coordinator. You'll have to teach the other about your speciality. This way, you'll practise as well. Training will begin only tomorrow, but we want the pairs signed up within an hour. Just use the rest of today to get to know each other." instructed the Sinnoh champ. "I forgot to mention but the best pair will receive a special price at the end of the trip"

Fortunately for us, we had some coordinator friends, which was obviously not the case for everyone in our class as I heard plenty of people complain about it. That is the reason why Ritchie and I were quickly joined by Gary, and the six coordinators involved in the poker game.

"So, how are we gonna split" I asked

"If you don't mind, I would like to be with you, Ash" Everybody stared at me, I glanced at Dawn and Dawn seemed to find her feet very interesting "I mean, I saw you battling couple of times now and I found it really cool…" I blushed, but quickly turned away so that at least she wouldn't notice

"That's fine with me" I answered. Truth is, I couldn't be happier

"Well aren't you Prof. Oak's son?" asked Kenny. Gary nodded "I heard about you, if you don't mind, would you like to team up with me?" Garry accepted, saying it didn't really matter to him. That was probably because Misty wasn't there if you want my opinion.

"Hey! You're leaving me all alone now! You traitors" shouted Zoey at her fellow Sinnoh comrades. Dawn scanned the mass of student and finally found what she was looking for.

"Paul is there, you should ask him. I bet he'll never find anybody otherwise" she said

"Good idea! Between Sinnoh people, he can't refuse" and with that, she ran over to meet the purple-haired boy

"What now? There's still three of us and only Ritchie as a trainer. What shall we do?" Just as May had made the remark, he heard a girl's voice

"No, Asunta! I just can not do it!" It was Asunta and Jeanette, the latest apparently being dragged along by the top girl trainer of the class.

"Of course you can!" said Asunta. They had reached our group and she turned to face us "Well, you seem to be short of trainers and we don't have coordinators so, I guess it's a good match"

"This looks interesting, if you don't mind, I'll be your partner" exclaimed Harley. Strange pair, I though: a top student in one side and an eccentric boy in the other. But the problem was now the remaining four. No matter what the pairings were going to be, they would be issues. That much, I knew. Eventually, it was the brunette coordinator who made the first move.

"You're Jeanette, right?" she asked

"That is right" the other girl confirmed

"You must be a really good trainer"

"What make you think so?"

"Well, Ritchie always tell us about how he always losses to you" Jeanette turned as red as the coordinator's bandana "anyway, how about we team up?" Ojo-sama, as she was called in the class, agreed and the six teams were sealed.

* * *

The twelve of us (Zoey had somehow managed to drag Paul along) spent the rest of the time in the field, chatting. The main topic was, of course, pokemons but, like the teachers had predicted, trainers naturally came to ask about contest and Dawn and her friends questioned us about Pokemon battles. About an hour latter, we headed back to the hotel. I had to admit that, for a school trip, it was really nice. It was one of these typical old style Japanese inn, made of wood. We were back to the reception when Dawn suddenly exclaimed

"They have a hot spring here! Let's check it out!" There's absolutely no way to stop Dawn when she's like this and in a blink all the girls disappeared.

"Shall we go as well" proposed Kenny

"I'll pass" said Paul. He quickly left us, probably to train I assumed

"Not like we have anything better to do anyway" said Ritchie. And so, we headed toward the guy's changing room.

The hot water on our body felt great. It was the first time I tried a hot spring and it completely relaxed me. It was probably due to that bath, but the rivalry between Drew and Ritchie calmed down. In fact, it came to the point where my friend started a friendly conversation with the green-haired boy

"So, you're from Hoenn too?" he asked

"Yes, from Larousse City" he answered

"That technologically advanced city ?" my friend questioned further

"How do you know that?"

"May told me" Drew paused

"I see… that's correct. In fact, my parents didn't like that life-style much, so we would often spend time around here, in Petalburg, that's how May and I got to meet each other" That certainly was interesting news. "And him" he pointed at Harley who was bathing a little bit further than us "we met couple of times in contest related event before we came to Pallet town"

Ritchie and I nodded, since it was the topic, I decided maybe we could move on to the Sinnoh group

"How about Dawn, Zoey and you?" I asked Kenny

"Well, my mother and Dawn's were friends from their contest days. It was only natural that Dawn, my sister Yumomi, and I met. Not very often, only like twice or three times a year, but since we were about the same age, we got along well. As for Zoey, we met her on the boat when we moved. Being so few from Sinnoh, she then started to hang out with us. You country really is a strong link after all" That made me think, Paul was from Sinnoh too. What kind of connection did he have with Dawn? So I hesitantly asked "and what about Paul?

"Sorry but I've got no idea" much to my dismay was Kenny's answer.

* * *

Couple of minutes later, when the hot water washed away the fatigue accumulated from the trip, we dressed up in the kimonos the hotel provided us and headed to the dining room where we were served some miso soup, nothing really interesting happened then, we just discussed various commun things, mostly about school. Once we were finished however, Ritchie spotted a table tennis, this is when the girls choose to join us.

"You guys up for a game?" Ritchie asked

"Yeah, sure" answered Dawn. I had a quick look: there was twelve of us

"How are we gonna do it?"

"What about a tag tournament?" proposed May "Let's stick to our partner, that will make things simple" That seemed reasonable so, we all agreed and, after a fierce battle of rock scissor paper, the table looked like this: Zoey/Paul against May/Jeanette, winner goes to semi-final against Gary/Kenny. The other group consisted of Dawn/myself against Asunta/Harley. The one qualified for semi-finals being Drew/Ritchie.

The girls only team were doing great. The balance between Jeanette's traditional play and May's energic style formed a good pair. Add to this that Zoey was pretty much a beginner and it quickly came to the match point. Jeanette served a fast ball which Zoey had trouble receiving. She still managed to return it with a lob, offering a perfect opportunity for May. The brunette smashed it perfectly, hoping to finish the game. Time started to slow down as Paul positioned himself and return May's smash with one of his own. The poor Zoey couldn't do anything. In fact, nobody could have because nobody had seen what happened exactly.

"I'm done with this" The purple haired declared. He paused the racket in the table and left without a word

"Well, well I guess he wasn't really interested in the first place. At least he tried…" said Dawn as she picked up his racket. "I guess it's our turn now, Ash"

Like I said, Asunta and Harley indeed made a strange pair. Although each of them was pretty good, they alternated between elaborate team plays and arguing. On the other hand, Dawn played just well enough to return balls but also seemed to get a feeling of what I wanted to do and she moved accordingly so as not to disturb me. After a close game, our opponents irregularity made them loss and Dawn and I moved to the semi-finals.

Gary is an awesome player but unfortunately for him, his partner was also the weakest of all. There was no way May would let that opportunity go to waste: attacking on the opponent weak point is the basis of all games after all. The final score was 21-15 in favour of the girls

With that, our second round had come. I served first, Drew returned it easily but he didn't pay attention and got into Ritchie's way so Dawn just placed the ball on the opposite corner. Second point a few exchange were made when Drew attacked. I barely managed to reach it, giving a chance for them to tie 1-1. Ritchie hit it with all it might and it landed… on Drew's head

"Watch were you're smashing!" He shouted in response

"You're the one to talk! I couldn't even move because of you just a minute ago"

"Hey guys, calm down! It's just a game" I tried to calm them, and they did. However, they were still angry at each other and couldn't focus. Naturally, Dawn and I grabbed point by point until it was 18-10 for us. Ritchie used a pretty average ball from Dawn to smash, but it landed on the net.

"Come on! Don't you know how to hit a ball?"

"I'm not listening to somebody who put five balls out while trying to do the same"

"Five? Sure I missed, but it can't have been more than three times"

"And I say it's five"

"So what? Did you count?"

"What if I did?" Drew sighed

"Maybe that's why you can't play. You're too busy counting the number of balls I missed" Ritchie had reached his limit. I'm sure he would have gladly landed his right fist on the coordinator's face if it wasn't for May who interfered

"Stop it you two" She shouted "Can't you learn how to work together? I thought you were more mature than this. You guys disappoint me" with that, she ran away. Dawn was all ready to go after her when both our opponents called her back

"Dawn" they said at the same time. They looked at each other and finally, Drew spoke

"Both of us are really sorry for what happened. We shouldn't get upset for such small matter. However, if we leave this match like that, all we would get at the end is bitterness. Would you mind if we finish it?" Dawn hesitated and, after a few seconds took back her racket

"Okay"

May's word had a big impact on them and suddenly, they had the same kind of play. It was as if we were playing one person yet they both had their own particularities. From then, on Dawn and I never scored a point and it is not like we didn't try.

* * *

With May gone, the tournament ended with this match and we all went to the reception to finally get the key to our rooms. The lady in the office handed their key to Gary and Ritchie, Drew and Harley, Kenny and Paul, then Asunta and Jeanette, Zoey and May

"And here is the last one for Mrs Berlitz and Mr Ketchum" She and I looked at each other, speechless. I quickly grabbed the key and without any word spoken, both of us were running to **that** place.

"Teacher" both of us yelled as we banged on the door of the teaching staff room. It opened after a few seconds, revealing Cynthia. I held the key in front of her face

"What's the meaning of this?" I asked her angrily, I know you shouldn't raise your voice at your teacher, but that was just too much

"What do you mean? It's just a key" She still had that annoying light tone

"Why are we the only ones having to share a room like this?"

"It can't be helped, we've got an odd number of girls and boys. You wouldn't want the school to pay an extra room, would you?"

"Still…" She was good at this…. She had the upper hand and there was nothing I could do

"Besides, I know you two get along well so it should be no problem"

"But…"

"No but! It's my decision so just go with it" and she slammed the door right in front of our nose. The most annoying thing about Cynthia was that, although she was like that, she could sometimes turn into her Sinnoh Champ mode and stare at you with a gaze that could stop even an Aggron in fury. And this is exactly what had happened. I was brought back to earth by Dawn taking my sleeve.

"Well, there's no helping it I guess. And then it's not too bad since… it is with you. That's if you don't mind me of course" I blushed madly. Her red cheeks, her big puppy blue eyes: Dawn had never been so cute. Little did we know that another surprise was waiting for us in the room.

"It's a double futon" Dawn exclaimed

"Should we ask the reception for two singles?" I proposed

"They are probably all used, with all of us sleeping here…" I didn't really have a choice

"You take it, Dawn, I'll sleep on the floor. It's not too cold so, I'll just use some newspaper." She hesitated a little but nodded in the end. I went back to the reception once again to ask for old newspapers. Dawn helped me unfold it so that, at least, it looks like something I could sleep on. Being tired from the table tennis, Dawn turned the light off.

About thirty minutes later, as I was slowly drifting into the world of dreams, I felt two arms wrapping around me and something pressing against my back

"Dawn?" I asked, hesitantly

"You know… I feel really bad about using the futon all by myself. It may be alright now, but by tomorrow morning, I bet you'll be freezing" She paused and pressed her body even closer "At least you should be alright like this"

"I guess so" was all I managed to say. Ten, twenty minutes or an hour passed like that when it suddenly stuck me

"Dawn?" I turned to face her. She was sleeping peacefully. Our faces only inches of each others, the moonlight coming though the window was shining on her, all of this was too much for me to handle. I slowly reduced the distances between our lips until I… stopped. That was close... Doing this to her while she was sleeping would be unfair. I stood up and carried her to the futon and then I sneaked inside too. After all, if we were already sleeping that close, there was no point in letting that futon go to waste.

* * *

_I know I promised a plot starting in this chapter, but it didn't . I really wanted to start it, but that would make the whole thing too long, so I splitted the field trip in two. I'm still hesitating about starting that plot or carry on with their peaceful life... which one would be best?_

_ Still, I do think thye were interesting things here. My personal favorite being Cynthia. I know she's totally OOC, but I like her this way. Apologies for the people who think I'm destoying the character. Paul is also starting to tag along with the group, a whole lot of coordinators were introduced and our lovely quatuor are making some moves _

_ I may actually stop this fic for a bit to write some one-shot. The content of chapter 5 will depend on what the readers want, but I assure you'll have some pokemons action (looks like I completly forgot about them here ). See you soon _


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